Dish
Date1752-1758
Artist/Maker
Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory
(1745-1769)
MediumPorcelain, Soft-paste
DimensionsDiam: 8 1/2"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1973-6
DescriptionSoft-paste porcelain plate with scalloped rim. The hand-painted decoration is asymmetrical and in the Hans Sloane style. There is a branch from the Acacia tree that extends from one edge of the plate to the opposite edge. There are also four insects depicted, including a yellow and orange butterfly, a red beetle, and two flies. There is a line of red, iron-oxide on the rim.Label TextDishes with this style of botanical decoration are often referred to as Hans Sloane style porcelain. Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) practiced medicine and had a passion for studying nature. In 1713 he purchased a riverside manor in Chelsea which included the Chelsea Physic Garden. Sloane encouraged medical students and the Society of Apothecaries to study, record, and experiment with local and foreign species of plants at the garden. Chelsea’s Hans Sloane style dishes are a result of the research conducted at the Chelsea Physic Garden.
The decoration on this plate was taken from the illustration "Acacia Spinosa" from Figures of Plants by Philip Miller (1691-1771), the Curator of the Garden at Chelsea. A number of Chelsea plates are decorated from that series of engravings, all from the first pages of the volume. Only the engravings after paintings by Ehret appear to have been used on Chelsea.
InscribedNo
MarkingsNo
ProvenancePurchased from: D. M. & P. Manheim, New York
